Conroe officer who lost eye in shooting still has his job (w/videos)

He sees how lucky he isA shotgun blast cost Conroe policeman an eye, but he's alive

CINDY GEORGE, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Published 5:30 am, Friday, April 8, 2011

Photo: Brett Coomer, Chronicle

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Conroe Police Sgt. James Kelemen can talk about the shooting now, but says when he and his wife were alone at first, "I cried. I'm not going to lie about that … it was tough."

Conroe Police Sgt. James Kelemen can talk about the shooting now, but says when he and his wife were alone at first, "I cried. I'm not going to lie about that … it was tough."

Photo: Brett Coomer, Chronicle

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Kelemen embraces a fellow police officer Thursday after talking about the shooting incident. The gunman who blasted him in the face, identified as James Richard Hill, was killed by other police officers.

Kelemen embraces a fellow police officer Thursday after talking about the shooting incident. The gunman who blasted him in the face, identified as James Richard Hill, was killed by other police officers.

In the days since Conroe Police Sgt. James Kelemen Sr. was blasted in the face by a shotgun-wielding man, resulting in injuries that cost him his right eye, circumstances have improved far beyond his expectations.

Moments after being sprayed by the pellets Saturday, he doubted his survival. In the ambulance, he kept saying his career was over. By the time he got settled at the hospital, he figured he and his wife would be there for months.

A surgeon removed Kelemen's eye on Monday. He was released from the hospital on Tuesday, visited the Conroe Police Department on Wednesday and reluctantly recounted his encounter with the gunman and talked about his recovery Thursday afternoon.

"I feel great. I'm glad I'm here, but I didn't want a big frenzy over the policeman with one eye," said Kelemen, 34. "I never lost consciousness. I remember talking to him. I remember hearing the shot. I remember feeling the percussion. I remember feeling something on my face. I knew I was hit. When I went to the ground, I could see all the blood coming from my head and it was a lot."

A gimme cap and mango-hued shirt covered his minor injuries and a sturdy plate shielded the gauze over his right eye socket. The pellets also left scattered wounds across Kelemen's forehead, scalp and right shoulder.

He's scheduled to have the stitches removed from his right eyelid next week, and should have a prosthetic eye in place this spring. And, he still has a job with the Conroe police, the chief's confidence and a community's support.

All of this for a guy who lay on the ground last weekend, drenched in his own blood, having what he expected to be his last conversation with his wife.

About 4 p.m. Saturday, dispatchers received a report of an armed man threatening an employee at a bakery in the 400 block of North Loop 336 East. The man was later identified as James Richard Hill, 54. This was Kelemen's first Saturday working the 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift after swapping with a newly promoted patrol sergeant.

As the first officer on the scene, Kelemen spent a couple of minutes pleading with Hill to drop his weapon, according to video footage from his patrol car's dashboard camera.

"After being there for a couple of seconds, I knew it wasn't going to end well. The guy was just obviously crazy. You hear about 'suicide by cop' all the time, but it didn't take long to figure out that that was definitely in his plan," Kelemen recalled. "I was scared to death."

Didn't think he'd make it

The video footage shows Hill pointing a shotgun toward the cruiser and doing a sort of dance around a parked vehicle.

Kelemen said he never fired his weapon because, at roughly 20 yards away, he couldn't take a chance of hitting someone other than the gunman. Sirens can be heard in the distance.

In minutes, backup units arrived that Hill could see, as well as other officers working to set up a perimeter.

"I think he knew there was nowhere to go at that point," Kelemen said.

Then, Hill fired. Kelemen went down. Other officers returned fire and killed Hill.

While another officer tried to assure Kelemen that everything would be OK, the injured officer called his wife.

"I grabbed my phone and called her and said: 'Hey, baby, I've been shot. I love you. Tell the kids I love them. I don't think I'm going to make it,' " Kelemen said, racing through the retelling. "Not that I didn't want to live, but there was just a lot of blood. That scared me more than anything. I thought: 'There's no way I could get out of here losing that kind of blood.'"

With his wife, Stacy, by his side, he was flown by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center, where doctors determined that his right eye could not be saved.

"It sucks knowing you're not going to have your eye, without a doubt. I cried. I'm not going to lie about that," Kelemen said. "It was a lot easier when the guys were there and visitors and stuff like that, but when it was just me and my wife, it was tough. It didn't take long for me to kind of get my sense of humor back. Just me being here means I can deal with the eye."

Outpouring of support

When the eye was removed, most of the pain left too. Now, there's a bit of discomfort from the socket muscles adjusting to a prosthesis placeholder.

An artist's rendition will help make the actual silicone prosthetic match the sapphire-like iris of his left eye. The installation is an outpatient office procedure.

"The nerves are gone, so I'll have no feeling in it, but because the muscles are attached, if I look left, the eye will track left, look right, up, down — it will do all that," Kelemen said. "That makes me feel a lot better, too."

The sergeant said he can barely keep his cellphone charged and voice mail clear. Stacy Kelemen has received an outpouring of support from other injured officers' wives on Facebook.

Chief Philip Dupuis has assured Kelemen that there's still a place for him with the Conroe police force.

"My ultimate goal, and the chief knows, is to go right back where I was. I've always liked being on patrol and in uniform. If that's not possible, then I'm happy to have a job. I've basically been told that the limitations are up to me; to see what I can do."

Kelemen believes he can pass his firearms qualification, but thinks his biggest hurdle will be driving.

Then again, maybe it will be his relentless colleagues. On his visit to the department on Wednesday, three dozen members of the police officers association greeted him wearing pirate-style eye patches.

"They're as comical as I am," Kelemen said. "Any day I can be here to get razzed like that is a good day."

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